topic Re: Price hike in Community Chat

Price hike

catter70 — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 10:21:49 GMT

Price of forever stamps is going up to 63 cents on Jan. 22.

Re: Price hike

Cats3000 — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 10:27:37 GMT

@catter70That's why I use my computer as much as possible (on-line bill pay, etc.). I use the USPS only if I have to.

Re: Price hike

meallen616 — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 10:31:52 GMT

@catter70,

Thank you!

Re: Price hike

ValuSkr — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 11:33:43 GMT

Thank you. It's a 5% increase; I guess they have to keep up with inflation.

Re: Price hike

Mom2Dogs — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 11:45:02 GMT

I have had several checks 'lost' in the mail...service is not the best.

Re: Price hike

ValuSkr — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 12:03:25 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
I have had several checks 'lost' in the mail...service is not the best.

Make sure you mail checks from the box inside the post office. Outside boxes have been broken into by people looking for checks; apparently the thieves somehow got their hands on a master key.

Re: Price hike

Chopsmom — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 12:07:58 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
@Mom2Dogs wrote:
I have had several checks 'lost' in the mail...service is not the best.
Make sure you mail checks from the box inside the post office. Outside boxes have been broken into by people looking for checks; apparently the thieves somehow got their hands on a master key.

Yes!!!

Been taking it to the inside box for a couple of years now.

Re: Price hike

Harpa — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:00:48 GMT

I remember when stamps were 3.....cents (Didn't there use to be a cent sign on a keyboard?)

Anyway, when my Mother would mail out tons of Christmas cards and I had to put the stamps on the envelopes.

Re: Price hike

gidgetgh — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:19:38 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
@Mom2Dogs wrote:
I have had several checks 'lost' in the mail...service is not the best.
Make sure you mail checks from the box inside the post office. Outside boxes have been broken into by people looking for checks; apparently the thieves somehow got their hands on a master key.

@ValuSkr - yeah. While I haven't had an issue, I no longer use the blue boxes. It doesn't take 30 seconds longer to park, go in and put the mail in the slot inside.

Re: Price hike

RollTide2008 — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:25:24 GMT

I can't remember the last time I needed a postage stamp.

Re: Price hike

LindaSal — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:25:47 GMT

For some reason I was never comfortable with outside mail boxes. I always go inside to mail or sometimes I will use the drive up that is right in the post office lot. DH thinks I'm crazy but I often thought the boxes could be broken into and I was always afraid thieves would have my checking account # from checks in my envelopes. Also I believe many of the boxes randomly located are not always emptied when they are supposed to be.

Re: Price hike

Greeneyedlady21 — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:32:49 GMT

Mail theft for check washing and gift card theft is not a new thing, it's been going on for 15 or 20 years now if not longer. I never put anything of value or checks in my mailbox or an outside USPS box. And I don't send gift cards via mail.

I'm surprised that anyone has never heard of that and thinks it's a recent problem

Re: Price hike

Eileen in Virginia — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:35:40 GMT

Thanks! I'll have to buy some more stamps before the price goes up. Around here, there's been an increase in muggings of mail carriers to get the keys to the outdoor mailboxes. Whenever we need to physically mail a letter or bill payment, we take it into the post office.

Re: Price hike

Skinsgirl — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:41:34 GMT

I use to mail from any outside box I could drive up to without getting out of my car. One afternoon I drove to the box closest to my house and it hadn't been broken into, it had been stolen. The entire box was unbolted from the concrete and carried off. I learned my lesson that day. ALWAYS MAIL FROM INSIDE THE POST OFFICE, if you must use the USPS.

Re: Price hike

ValuSkr — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:48:18 GMT

@Greeneyedlady21 wrote:

I'm surprised that anyone has never heard of that and thinks it's a recent problem

It's not a recent problem but it's been in the news more lately. Sadly, there are more desperate people now.

I agree about mailing gift cards - it's a risky maneuver. Not only could they be stolen out of the mail, but they could be just plain lost in the mail.

It's always best to buy gift cards directly from the store or restaurant they represent, rather than from the rack in the supermarket. If the card is lost, the store or restaurant can usually look up its number in their system (given information on your purchase receipt), cancel it, and issue you a new one.

Re: Price hike

chrystaltree — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:53:43 GMT

I don't care. I only mail 15-20 Christmas and birthday cards to out of state family and friends in a year. I can't even imagine going back to using clunky old snail mail.

Re: Price hike

chrystaltree — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 14:03:13 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:

I have had several checks 'lost' in the mail...service is not the best.

It's slow and risky. My friend sends her elderly aunt $100 a month by money order. Her aunt is 90 and doesn't have a bank account and won't use a reloadable debit card that would give her immediate access to the money. She waits for that money order and then drags herself to a small convenience store to cash it. Sometimes it gets there in 5 days, sometimes it takes 3 weeks. The unpredictability of mail traveling just 300 miles is crazy.

Re: Price hike

Krimpette — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 14:35:45 GMT

@LindaSal My post office used to have three of the drive up mail boxes in their lot. After they too have been broken into, they now only have one blue box, with cement stanchions protecting it. And the mail slot has been drasticadlly reduced in size. I only mail from inside the post office.

Re: Price hike

frenchie — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:30:02 GMT

I don't use many but will buy another book early. I am glad to live in a condo complex that has a locked mailbox. No worries there.

Re: Price hike

millieshops — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:54:18 GMT

@ValuSkr Did you catch the new reports about the mail thieves who have been attacking the mail delivery people to steal their keys to banks of mailboxes? I know that one my street each of their keys opens several dozen boxes simultaneously and once the mail boxes are open they also get access to the keys to any packages delivered.

I know some people are desperate, but I classify those beating others and stealing in quantity like that as evil thieves. They are doubly dangerous and more than likely live too close to all of us wherever we live.